The present invention relates to the hydrogenation of hydrocarbon resins and also to the catalysts used for hydrogenating hydrocarbon resins.
Some catalysts used for hydrogenating hydrocarbon resins are sulfided to their active sulfide forms prior to use. In situ sulfidation in the hydrogenation reactor may take as much as 48 hours or more, during which time the hydrogenation reactor is taken out of production.
Some catalysts used for hydrogenating hydrocarbon resins have low crush strength and can easily fracture to produce fines. Low crush strength catalysts generate dust during reactor loading and introduce foulant materials into the reactor. The fines can restrict or block flow passages and undesirably increase the pressure drop through a fixed bed of the hydrogenation catalyst and/or the associated lines and equipment.
There are needs in the art to reduce or eliminate the in situ sulfiding time, and to improve the crush strength of catalyst and reduce the quantity of fines generated from the hydrogenation catalyst.